#but i also understand them touching on the magic instead of lol lore

[lamoureg]

listen i love arcane s2 just as much as the next arcane fan but i'm also a strong believer that i would've enjoyed it alot More if it touched more on the piltover/zaun conflict instead of magic

[aspoonofsugar]

What do you think so far of season 2 of Arcane ? Honestly I think for my part that it’s too rushed and there are too many storylines it’s so confusing. Besides they completely destroyed Vi and Caitlyn relationship lol the disappointment is high

Hi!

I am sorry you are not enjoying the season very much. On my part I am loving it and I am looking forward to the final act!

I think much criticism I have seen stems from the very own premise of Arcane as a show tbh. I think there are two things to clarify.

First thing to clarify

Arcane is in the end a League of Legends show. Its main commercial goal is to explore the Lore of the Game, so that new fans can be brought in and old fans can have fun spotting easter eggs. As a result, it takes some choices that in another story you wouldn't have. Two examples:

1- Mel's arc feels out of the blue, but it ties into the lore of the game (I heard they wanted to make Mel into a new champion? If so, she is probably going through an arc where she is receiving magical abilities, as smart as fuck and good at politics isn't exactly a set skill that works in LOL). It is a storyline you would not usually add, as you would not usually add the Black Rose shenaningas. They added it because it probably lets them add a new champion to the game and it lets them play homage to another popular character of the game. That said, Mel's own storyline has the potential to tie nicely with the main plotline:

a) Mel's disappearance does in fact have an impact on the narrative, i.e. it lets Medarda do as she pleases in Piltover. If Mel were around, there is no way she would have let her mother establish Martial Law without a fight. I think Mel could have also had a positive influence on Cait. Not only that, but Medarda's love for Mel humanizes her character and gives more depth to her relationship with Caitlyn. It is obvious Medarda and Cait's bond is one where they are projecting on the other a loved one. Cait finds a new mentor figure/mother after Cassandra's death. Medarda finds a new mentee figure/daughter after Mel's disappearance. They are not mother and daughter, but they project on each other a need they both feel, as they are both grieving.

b) Mel has always been linked to Jayce and Viktor's B plot aka Arcane plot, as she, Viktor and Jayce are the ones who created HexTech. This season Viktor and Jayce have both "touched" the Arcane, which has traumatized them in opposite ways. In a sense, they have both lost their humanity in the pursue of progress. Moreover, they have both become entangled with magic. Well, even if I know very little of LOL Lore, I think it is safe to assume Mel inherited some kind of magical ability. The fact she is trapped in some kind of magical dimension where she has to decipher old runes makes me believe her experience is not very different from Viktor and Jayce, thematically. They all pursued progress through science, only to now face something of wild and irrational. Also, Mel being the one with the higher magical potential among the trio could be pretty interesting.

2 - I would not have wanted Vander to come back in any other series and was skeptical about the choice of having him be Warwick. That said, I also understand it makes a very interesting background for the champion, so I understand why they made this decision. What's more, I actually like a lot how he has been used. Instead of being reduced to a simple agent of chaos, he has been used as a catalyst in Vi and Jinx's arcs.

Basically, they are taking choices, I would not recommend in any other story. However, they are making them work pretty well both for Arcane and for LOL.

Second thing to clarify

It is true Arcane is an ensembled cast and it balanced different pov rather well in season 1. However, this does not mean that ALL characters have the same importance. I think both season 1 and this season so far have made very clear that the story has ONE main character, that is Jinx:

She is the one given the major focus BY FAR.

The whole first season is her journey to become the Jinx in the games, which is symbolically why the season ends with her embracing this alterego. Every other major character's plotline in the main A plot is after all tied to her. Vi wants to save her. Silco wants to control her. Caitlyn wants to arrest her. She is the reason why Cait and Vi meet each other in the first place. Not to count she also unwillingly kicks off the B plotline by having Jayce's research come to light.

The second season so far has revolved around her, as well. This time she is going through a journey, where she tries to fix what she has broken. At the same time, she has to accept the consequences of her own actions. She grieves Silco, connects with Sevika, adopts Isha and tries to mend her relationship with Vi. Meanwhile, all the other major characters are impacted by her. She is at the centre of the conflict between Vi and Cait, for example. She is the one who almost kills Viktor, so that Jayce tries to resurrect him. Finally, she becomes the centre of the major conflict between Piltover and Zaun.

In short, I think it is fair for people to be annoyed their faves are not receiving the screentime or focus, they had hoped. However, I think that so far the series has been coherent in keeping Jinx at its center. We'll see if it will be so for the ending, as well.

Finally, I don't think Vi and Cait's relationship was ruined. I think the conflict among Vi, Cait and Jinx is actually my favourite part of this season. I will add that their conflict is actually a mirror of the first season:

Season 1 has the first act focused on Vi's relationship with Powder and it ends with their separation / Season 2 has the first act focused on Vi's relationship with Cait and it ends with their separation

Season 1 has the second act focused on Vi and Cait's relationship, as Vi looks for her family / Season 2 has the second act focused on Vi and Jinx's relationship, as they look for their family. Both relationships start as conflictual and slowly grow better

In season 1's third act, Vi fails to reconcile her relationship with Cait with the one with Jinx. We'll see if in the final act of season 2, she will fare better.

In short, it has never been only Vi and Cait, but always Vi, Cait and Jinx, as her lover and her sister represent two different sides of Vi. Just like Jinx has to reconcile both Jinx and Powder, so Vi has to reconcile both Jinx and Cait. Similarly, Cait needs to reconcile Vi and Jinx as two parts of Zaun.

In conclusion, I do agree that there are a little bit too many storylines, some of which might feel out of the blue. I also understand people wanted some characters to be explored more. However, I also think they are doing a great job at telling the story they want to tell and they are giving the viewers all the elements to understands the characters' developments. Surely, it would have been great to have some dynamics and psychologies explored more, but the writing level stays pretty high.

This does not mean you should like it, though. You probably were more interested in some dynamics and storylines that ended up being sidelined and it is totally valid to be annoyed by it.

Thank you for the ask!

[northern-passage]

ok all of first screaming and crying over the new update etc etc. all of SECOND quick lore question(s) about blood pacts! (forgive me if there is a codex entry i overlooked just point me that way and i will head on over lol) how are they perceived culturally? i can’t quite tell from the flavor text when clem makes a deal with you if it’s intended to come off as “fairly standard/commonplace practice, if a little unusual in the specific context” vs “immediately very strange/extreme”? basically, How Weird is it supposed to be that clem offers that to you? is there any circumstance where it’s normal/expected to see them used? are all blood pacts magically binding? are there differences in cultural perception in the north vs south? upper class vs lower class? thanks!

the handshake is pretty universal; i actually had a conversation planned with Clem while you walked to the isolation district, but i had to cut it for pacing (and i plan to have a similar conversation later instead now) so there isn't really any indication in game yet, aside from the hunter's reaction when Clem offers it.

in the codex entry for magic, blood magic is briefly touched on and how in certain instances it's "allowed," like healing magic. the handshake is similar, it's just treated like signing a contract, and like you see here in this conversation most people don't even consider it to be blood magic, it's become so disassociated with it. it's also not really called a bloodpact in game - that's just the easiest thing for me to call it but that name makes it sound more serious than it is.

it works more like a pinky promise than a "pact"; you can't intentionally break your side of the deal, and neither can Clementine. if you do, you can be injured/will lose something equivalent to the value of the thing you promised. this kind of magic is very loosey goosey; it very much is connected to the person's intentions and whether or not they are genuine. if something did happen to Clementine despite the hunter's best efforts, they wouldn't necessarily be punished to the fullest extent possible if they were truly trying everything in their power to protect them.

when Clem asks the hunter to shake on it in that way, they're basically ensuring that the hunter will not lie or turn on them, because now if they do there is the potential for the hunter to be punished as well. and vice versa, the hunter can assure that Clementine won't try to give them the slip without paying them again, so it's beneficial on both sides. it's not exactly uncommon, but it can be considered a little extreme or offputting in certain situations. it does actually make sense with Clem and the hunter - considering Clem just admitted to having never planned to pay them for their original deal, and the fact that they don't really know each other well, a handshake like that is an easy way to protect yourself when making deals with strangers.

and this is definitely a "working class" kind of gesture. rich people are too evil to ever be able to successfully fulfill a bloodpact. lmfao. it's definitely seen as "gross," demeaning, and insulting in higher class circles; and i would say far more malicious, too (as in if someone like Duncan wanted to make a bloodpact with you, it would almost definitely be a way for him to trap you in some kind of Situation) whereas a shake between two people just trying to get by together feels far more sincere and is seen more as just covering all your bases than trying to take advantage of someone.

however, all of that to say: when it comes to the trade with Duncan, the hunter doesn't understand what's happening, nor do they immediately get angry or suspicious of Clem afterwards, because what happened in the courtyard... let's just say a handshake shouldn't be able to compel the hunter in that way.

[askfallenroyalty]

I can't imagine the therapist's reaction to Chara telling her/he/them EVERYTHING. Like. Just imagine being a therapist going from thinking "oh this kid just has a savior complex" to "oh this kid has a savior complex because of a PROPHECY and they DIED and got RESSURECTED and has TIME POWERS. ALSO THEIR SIBLING IS A FLOWER??" HFHHHF a wild day in office/clinic amiright?

// YEAH thats also a huge in-universe reason why some characters are avoidant to therapy because HOW DO YOU EVEN START EXPLAINING

// also. added problem to consider. i wish this was touched upon more in canon but like, monsterkind gets modern tech from the dump and by whatever resources they have. they obvs don't have human internet because otherwise they'd already establish first contact with humanity

// and while it's not IMPOSSIBLE they can't get books discussing health and science, it's far, far more likely they get their modern info from what they can reverse engineer and their own scientist can figure out

// this means they can have a fridge (or in undyne's case, a hot fridge) but not know the earth is round.

// do???? monsters??? know about modern understandings of mental health? we know they're not influenced by human bigotry so there's aspects of the underground that are very socially different already.

// AND THEN how does being monsters, beings made of magic, dust and love, have their mental health differ? because we ARE our brains. we are our hormones, blood, neurons. its a cause-effect loop of physical and social factors.

// monsters are (?) sentient magic that take the forms based on real world biological (and... sometimes not) creatures. this goes into where did monsters come from? we came from evolution. where... did say, tsundre plane come from. (i've seen speculation shes a ghost in a machine or was something Alphys made, since ya know, anime.)

// we're MISSING SO MUCH LORE and it kills me. ANYWAY BACK ON TOPIC LOL

// part of why chara's therapy doesn't fully help them is because they DO have to be secretive about shit. they actually DO like their therapist and want to talk about things but they don't want to be seen as delusional for believing themself to be A Literal Super Powered God who can control time. you can't even prove time travel without using it so up until the story kicks in, Chara didn't have that power for 5 years. without explaining that, there's huge chunks of their life they can't explain.

// that and chara is going thru the slow, deliberate process of trying what meds work better. in my verse, i have an explanation of how magic is cultivated and grown which then can be made into potions instead of food. (thanks to that one anon who came up with the potion = meds idea) so it depends on what herbs and emotional intent is used to create what potions. then those can act as mood regulators and fill in the "physical" make up portion that brain chemistry works with

// honestly. this would be frickin cool to cover. there's obvs not a LOT of room to put this into the story and how it'd be told organically, but like, it's possible!!! after the time skip, or maybe during the Christmas arc, we can see Chara take a potion and they can explain to the reader a bit of what that's like. (with a limited understanding of how it all works)

[catrose13]

Chapter Five Phone Tag, The Chapter Art makes me hungry and I think my favourite of this chapters "Brought To You By" is Two people having two completely different conversations at the same time.

Hungry Hungry Hippo... This is a great way to start off the chapter

Oh my goodness Grandpa did you also traumatise this poor "professional graverobber"?

Oh no poor Mai, it's not special effects

Mai I am in Awe, you stared into the eyes of Anubis and threw a rock. Wow.

Lol "Romeo with the .22"

Yugi... instead of choosing a safer school, he chose to get body armour... I guess that's part of what makes a Main Character

Mai is so talented, not only is she a Competent Adult, she also knows first aid. Amazing

I love that his response to not "Being a Little Bitch" is that Grandpa would be proud

Mai's intuition is good, Yugi is involved with "actual cursed artifacts" and it does have to do with the thing she is pointedly not looking at

Ok I have admittedly been curious about "Don't-Lose-Yugi duty" but his history of kidnappings does explain that... Third graders with knives...Do you think they know Mokuba?

Aww Mai's having flutterings...Violent flutterings

Mai don't worry no matter how Dumpster Fire your life is I guarantee theirs are at least as bad

"Stone Cold Bitch Ass"

LORE!!!

Joeys sister sounds so Badass

...Tristan's Mom

"I'mma need you guys to be REAL COOL about something pretty fucked up" Yugi they've been cool with a ton of fucked up stuff basically since you became friends

Kemo continues to hate his job

Ah Ishizu sand is like that, the last place you want it to be will be where it'll end up

...Missing God Cards is not a good things

Seto....Did you just channel a Karen?

HUSBAND....Marik this they are not Twins

Solid burn on Pegasus not ranking high enough in his estimation to be considered an "Enemy"

Oh Hodgekiss, you dumbass, Odion despairs of you

Sergei loves his Boss and his Boss other Crazier Boss

Poor Odion, possibly the amount of caffeine he consumes doesn't help the migraine but having a brother like Marik is reason enough for one even without adding Hodgekiss

Well at least he's aware he makes bad first impressions

I feel like every time one of the Ishtar brothers starts thinking about competent people Hodgekiss is just there suddenly to remind them of his very incompetent self

It's like a Comedy of Errors

Everything is on Fire and Hodgekiss is still in the water

Manipulation is not how one makes friends Odion

Bakura truly has a great turn of phrase "world's most cursed frisbee"

"Perfectly Good Magical Artifact" I gotta agree with Bakura on this one (as with so many other things) that is an interesting way to pronounce "extremely cursed"

Ah the Importance of Names is once more touched upon

Bakura your ability to find the silver lining is very inspiring but also strangely worrying all things considered

Debugging Duck! I know that reference!

"YES! I understand nothing" Such excitement

...Wonka...labor dispute...there Oompa Loompas involved weren't there? I hate Oompa Loompas

I am understanding nothing of the business stuff he's talking about, but I am enjoying a block of chocolate now, so I feel like it evens out

Welp I understood very little of what Seto is planning but I get the end result and I think it sounds like a good time all around!

Lol yes the coma acted as a hard reset like with a computer

Bakura's gender has been assigned as witch by his schoolmates. Nice

Dude why do you just carry around alcohol and shot glasses?

So Ishizu drives like a maniac

She throws so much shade at her family's incestuous past

Aw she refers to Marik as "My Beautiful Idiot Baby Brother" with the caps and everything, she loves him but she despairs

Marik is a Chihuahua

Well at least she acknowledges that they all need therapy

Shadi don't just teleport onto the road!

THE CABBAGE GUY!!!

Diana Prince?!! Wonder Woman! Wooo

Ohmigosh!! The Eye Colours!!!! Right from the Start! You trickster!!

Oh nu now Shadi's talking in Capital Letters

Ah loopholes, passive aggressive actions!

Would Seto's "Data Hack" thing actually work in real life? Out of curiosity

So Jurassic Park is a movie but InGen is real, so did they take inspiration from the movies or get the movies made as a sort of test to see how people would react?

"Ned Flanders" Seto do you watch the Simpsons?

They had to fight Baboons with knives. Giving Baboons knives ranks right up there with giving Mokuba a gun

Ah Drama...He called in a WHAT?!

...Misha why are you invoking Primal Instincts in Seto?

Pegasus even the Russians think you're cuckoo

...Dude I would really not be screwing around with a guy who talks about Revoking your Eyeball Privileges

Ahh Anubis know Shadi, that explains some things about Pegasus' dislike of dogs

Now who the heck is his "retrieval specialist"? Is it who I think it is?

Wow Kemo have you just decided you don't care anymore? Did seeing Anubis get rid of all your Fucks? Is the field now barren?

Hah Vampire! Not a Chupacabra!

And Croquets still Stoned Outta his Mind

I'm getting the Poison for Kuzco vibes from this conversation

I love that Yami's the ghost but he's the one that's scared

Téa you have solidly terrified the poor ghost

"Don't fight her, we'll both die" Wow she scares them both then

Aww he's struck dumb in Awe of her

Hah! I was right Joey was measuring them last chapter!

"Al-Deez-Nuts" "You want me to LIE? To TÉA" wow, Yami I think your acclimatizing too well

"There Would be A Hippo. The Hippo Would be Bad." From what we've seen so far that's an understatement if there ever was one

Aw Yami's scared of Hippos. It's valid though, they're freaking terrifying

Their Rules are getting more and more interesting.

Poor Yami getting bullied about his spice tolerance

SUDDEN Bakura!

Oh no. That's not Bakura!!

[tigerkirby215]

5e Katarina, the Sinister Blade build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games. In b4 Tumblr gives me ToS for this picture.)

In my defense I had this build planned since pre-Tasha’s. With Katarina being absolutely nuts in preseason right now along with her just generally being one of League’s most popular champs I’d have to get around to making a build for her eventually.

Look it was either her or Zac. The only other build I really want to do right now is Miss Fortune and truthfully I’m kinda stumped on her. This build isn’t a build it’s a cry for help.

GOALS

Preparation - We’ll need to always be ready for a fight, with a weapon in hand and ways to rush in.

Shunpo - We’ll also need a way to jump on our foes, or jump away.

Death Lotus - When push comes to shove we’ll need to shred through everyone close by spinning and throwing daggers at a rapid pace!

RACE

Katarina is a human but with some special, magical talents. I’m sure by now people know my aversion to Variant Humans and my love of Eberron Dragonmarks so the Mark of Finding is perfect for finding marks and ending them.

With the Mark of Finding you get some Ability Score Improvements but thanks to Tasha’s we can get a +2 to our Intelligence and a +1 to our Dexterity. You also have Darkvision up to 60 feet, and Hunter’s Intuition, letting you add a d4 to Perception and Survival checks. Finally Finder’s Magic giving you some innate spells.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an assassin who hops, skips, and jumps around the battlefield.

14; INTELLIGENCE - For whatever reason Katerina does AP damage? I mean she did. Now she builds Kraken Slayer because lol Rito balance.

13; CHARISMA - People don’t only main you because you’re strong.

12; WISDOM - Kata in lore is a bit of a hot-head but Wisdom is attached to many skills that an assassin needs.

10; CONSTITUTION - You’re a squishy midlaner.

8; STRENGTH - We simply don’t need Strength and with your build I doubt you have much. Even if jumping around like that requires a lot of muscles in the legs and chest.

BACKGROUND

So apparently Katerina is part of a Noxian Noble family? Regardless as a Noble you gain proficiency in History but I’d suggest swapping your Persuasion proficiency with Intimidation instead. You also get proficiency with a gaming set and a language of your choice.

Thanks to your noble birth you have a Position of Privilege, meaning that other nobles will welcome you within their circles and common folk will do their best to please you in order to avoid getting a dagger in their throat. You can even secure an audience with a noble if you need to! Perhaps you need to put a knife in their throat? An assassin doesn’t ask questions.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for skill proficiencies also because yeah duh. As a Rogue you get proficiency in four skills from the Rogue list: Acrobatics is an obvious choice, Athletics will help your poor Strength score, Perception will help you spot incoming hooded assassins, and Stealth will let you do Rogue things. Rogue things like Sneak Attack if an ally is near an enemy or you have advantage, granting you an extra d6 on the attack roll.

You also get Expertise in two of your skills: both Stealth and Acrobatics make sense for an assassin. Speaking of assassin Thieves’ Cant will let you communicate with them in a way that your enemies can’t understand. And to top it off Finder’s Magic you can cast Hunter’s Mark once per Long Rest. Smite and Ignite to get First Blood.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. "Never play fair."

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype and there’s two important things about your knives:

They do magic damage (for some reason.)

You throw them a lot.

With that in mind we shall be going for the Soulknife from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. As a Soulknife you get Psionic Power for a pool of d6 Psionic Energy die that can be used for a variety of features. Psi-Bolstered Knack will let you boost your ability checks as long as you’re proficient, and Psychic Whispers will let you keep assassination plans to team chat.

Of course what we’re really here for is Psychic Blades, a magic d6 psychic damage knife that you can make when you attack which can be dual-wielded and thrown up to 60 feet. You can also attack again with your Bonus Action if you already stabbed with your main action, but the extra attack will only do a d4 instead of a d6.

Speaking of magic: you also get Locate Object from Finder’s Magic. Perhaps not as useful as Find Person, but thievery isn’t beneath you. Your Sneak Attack also increases to 2d6.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get an Ability Score Improvement: turns out Dexterity is pretty important for a Rogue so increase that by 2.

(Artwork by Jennifer Wuestling. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 1

Time for an AP boost. First level Wizards get Spellcasting because what else did you think they got? You learn three cantrips and six leveled spells when starting out as a Wizard, even if you can only prepare a number of spells equal to your Wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier:

CANTRIPS

Instead of making a dinky d4 knife empower it with Booming Blade for some Thunder damage, and even more damage if the enemy moves.

To twirl around with Voracity Sword Burst will strike everyone near one of your daggers with your knives.

For a long ranged damage tool that inflicts Grievous Wounds Chill Touch will let you make sure your lane opponent doesn’t run away and heal up.

SPELLS

Mage Armor will help you avoid a few more hits.

For a Bouncing Blade (sorta) take Ice Knife to hit your target and anyone close to them.

For a shield thanks to Gunblade (like it’s TFT) take False Life to bolster yourself somewhat.

Disguise Self will be helpful for any infiltration missions.

Detect Magic likewise is useful to locate any magical traps.

Every good Rogue has a backup plan: Feather Fall is always useful in a pinch.

You also get Arcane Recovery, allowing you to recover spell slots with a combined total level of half your Wizard level.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition. There is actually a school for magic knives and that school is the art of Bladesinging! As a Bladesinger you get Training in War and Song for proficiency in Performance along with a one-handed melee weapon of your choice: for whatever reason Rogues don’t get proficiency in Scimitars so grab that I guess?

But much more importantly you can invoke a Bladesong as a Bonus Action, which lasts for 1 minute but ends early if you are incapacitated. (Or if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. I guess.) You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time with no action required.

While your Bladesong is active you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, you have advantage on Acrobatics checks, and you gain a bonus to Concentration checks equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can activate Bladesong a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

You can also learn more spells like Color Spray for a getaway option, or Cause Fear of incoming ganks.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards can learn second level spells like Mirror Image to be everywhere at once, and Misty Step for legally not Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 4

4th level Wizards get an Ability Score Improvement: more Dexterity means more AC and deadlier stabs with your knife.

You can also learn more spells like Invisibility for some Duskblade resets, and Enhance Ability (ty Tasha’s) to make sure you’re the best around. And you can learn another cantrip like Prestidigitation for some generic utility sorcery.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards can learn third level spells like Haste to up your APM, and Spirit Shroud to make all your stabs all the deadlier.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 6

At 6th level you get an Extra Attack as a Bladesinger, but unlike most Extra Attacks you can also cast a cantrip along with attacking! The interesting thing about this is that (rules as written) you can attack twice after casting Booming Blade with this! And depending on your DM you might even still have your Cunning Action!

And on the subject of spells you can learn two more such as Clairvoyance for some Farsight Alterations, and Nondetection to... not be detected...

(Artwork by Atey Ghailan. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

5th level Rogues get Uncanny Dodge. When you’re hit with an attack you can use your reaction to halve the damage. Additionally your Psionic Energy die increases to a d8, and your Sneak Attack increases to 3d6.

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will help you avoid ganks and Intimidation will help you extract information.

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues get Evasion. If you’re forced to make a Dexterity save you can make some pro plays to dodge, taking no damage on a successful save and half damage on a failed save.

Your Sneak Attack also increases to 4d6, so you can jump onto them after dodging their skill shot.

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement: since your Dexterity is maxed let’s invest in that Intelligence... sorta. The Observant feat will let you increase your Intelligence by 1 along with granting a +5 bonus to passive Perception and Investigation so you can watch those wards, and the ability to read lips! Definitely helpful for an assassin.

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

Hey how about we get your actual abilities at total level 15? Finally with level 9 in Soul KInife you get Soul Blades for two new abilities that use your Psionic Energy die. Homing Strikes will let you add your Psionic Energy die to an attack roll if you miss, and Psychic Teleportation will let you throw out a knife and teleport to it!

Something something read how the ability works yourself because these are guides on how to make a character and I won’t tell you what every class in Tasha’s does. Oh your Sneak Attack also increases to 5d6 now.

LEVEL 16 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get 4th level spells like Phantasmal Killer to make your own jungler (one who’ll actually gank!), and Dimension Door to Teleport into lane. Or out!

LEVEL 17 - WIZARD 8

Level 8? How about an ASI? You may notice that we have two uneven ability scores: increase both your Intelligence and Charisma by 1.

You can also learn more spells but there honestly isn’t much I want from fourth level so hop back to level 3 for Sending. But you can also take Greater Invisibility for some Duskblade resets. Look I just really need a 5th level spell but it’s hard to justify magic on a champion who throws knives and nothing else.

LEVEL 18 - WIZARD 9

Time to finally get the last ability we’re missing: Death Lotus. Or more precisely Steel Wind Strike to hit everyone with your daggers and then maybe Shunpo to them after the fact. Speaking of Shunpo for seemingly unlimited jumps take Far Step, allowing you to be everywhere at once. Just know that you’ll only have one 5th level slot.

(Artwork by Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 10

Picking up our last two levels in Rogue: level 10 means another ASI. Capped off Intelligence woo!

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent, meaning that you can’t roll below a 10 on any skill you’re proficient in. As a capstone skill let’s check what the minimum roll you can get on your skills is:

27 on Acrobatics and Stealth

24 on Intimidation

23 on Perception

21 on History

18 on Performance (Bladesinger lul)

15 on Athletics

And to top it off your Psionic Energy die increases to a d10, along with your Sneak Attack capping off at 6d6!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

They fear my weapons? I am the weapon - Regardless of your choice of tools you are extremely deadly. On one hand 6d6 sneak attack daggers you can apply 3d8 Booming Blade damage to, and on the other hand plenty of potent spells like Haste and Spirit Shroud.

If you run, you won't see me stab you! - You are also incredibly mobile with Misty Step, Far Step, Psychic Teleportation, Bladesong, and just general Cunning Actions. Not to mention that Bladesong gives a big boost to AC which combines well with Uncanny Dodge and Evasion.

A victory is sweetest when it leads to another - Rogues are meant to be skilled professionals and you are certainly that. The skills you are proficient in can be boosted by psionics. Oh and 28 Passive Perception thanks to Observant is just a little bit nutty.

CONS

Ready for trouble? - While you have many a skill you have many more that are lacking. You can put on a mean face sure, but for an important check like Arcana your psionic potential won’t save you.

Better dead than dull - Your spell slots are limited, and quite notably you only have one 5th level slot for Death Lotus IE Steel Wind Strike. While magic can supplement you nicely remember to ration yourself appropriately.

Come on, live a little... while you can! - You know what class doesn’t have a lot of health? Wizards, and half your levels are in Wizard. With a 10 in CON and most of your hit die being d6s your enemies won’t even need to hit you to Power Word Kill you.

But as an assassin you prove why your house is the best in the business. Talk is cheap and you’re always prepared: go in with knives at the ready, take out your target and anyone in their way before slipping out unscathed. You can always reset after a rest; just be sure to remember your cooldowns.

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

[felassan]

Thoughts on Dark Fortress #1

(This post is under a cut due to spoilers.)

NB, my thoughts on the first pages that came out in the preview are collected here [spoilers at link], so I won’t repeat myself.

Okay here we go :D I’ve posted up my fav panels but always want a space where I can burble at length.. (I’m late in posting this bc recently for the last few days I’ve been obsessing over politics in my country as it’s the run-up to election time.. I haven’t read anyone elses’ thoughts on it either so I could be behind on prevailing speculation or whats known or something) The preview pages ended at the panel when Aaron says “Vaea is right”, so that’s where I’m beginning.

I can’t put my finger on why but I really like the “don’t tell me I’ve had too much to drink” panel showing a Tevinter street. It’s a neat blend of “Tevinter is advanced relative to much of the rest of known Thedas, but also ominous, but also a place where people live and go about their lives, and also not going too heavy on the cyberpunk angle”. I dig the composition ‘leading’ the eye up the street and the consistency with the recently-seen DA4 materials that have red lighting in Tevinter buildings, similar building shapes etc. ig I’m pretty obsessed with the idea of the DA4 PC & party walking up streets like these.

I wonder how Aaron felt witnessing Tractus’ drunken scenes in the pub :(

Tractus’ attitude towards the barman here shows the influence and power Magisters wield in Tevinter, and the fear of them common among the mundane populace

digging the Tevinter-y motifs & design of the bartop, bar shelving etc. it feels like thought went into it

I’d watch a spinoff show or read a story where Marius and Ser Aaron have to team up in order to achieve something

Vaea is so badass and agile! I appreciate that the shot of her up high was tasteful and didn’t like, weirdly contort her body, have a weird leering angle or emphasize things in that way comic art often does for women at moments like these

so in Tevinter, lamps give off red light (seen in the bar scene). are the windowpanes themselves also red?

good thinking Vaea grabbing the staff. great sense of snappiness and motion in this panel. her landing reminds me of squirrels doing the superhero pose landing actually :) 

tfw you and a dog burst out of a wardrobe

Tractus recognizing Fenris, it seems - did they encounter each other when Tractus was young, or does he just know of him (distinctive markings and all that)? if the former, I have a feeling we might get a flashback scene to that time in a future issue

cutting to look at Francesca when Tractus talks about Fenris murdering his father is GENIUS. look at the sadness on her face here; “you murdered your father” is exactly what she’s been telling herself and struggling with all this time

nice to see staff-less magic in action

Tractus seems to have drawn power from the red orb set in his staff. he reaches out to it and it responds by glowing and the staff moving, but he wasn’t doing a Jedi ‘use my Jedi powers to make my thrown lightsaber [staff] return to my hand’, as you might expect, he was instead charging up and drawing magical energy/power from it [the orb], as seen by the red light in his hand in the next panel. this reinforces my earlier wonderings that the red orb is notable and that there’s some connection between it and his red eyes. later in the panel when he’s trying to cast on the floor his eyes seem lit up (altho it could just be lighting & dramatic effect)

I wonder if Fenris thinks of Anders and Justice when Tractus says “justice”. There was once a mage in Fenris’ life who was really focused on justice..

the combat scenes are beautifully drawn, thought out and colored

Fenris’ lines here are really metal, badass and impactful. I could hear Gideon Emery’s voice in my head as I read these bits - the word choice of “hounded” helps with that I think, it immediately recalls Fenris talking with anger about how Hadriana denied his meals and hounded his sleep. they nail how Fenris speaks, the pattern and words he tends to use, etc

PHASING POWERS in action!! this is very cool to see, this ability of his didn’t get touched on much at all in DA2 outside of combat or a few scenes

I enjoy the contrast between the red and blue glows

Fenris is understandably merciless 

“Perhaps if you had it carved into you” feels like foreshadowing for the ‘red wraith’

:( the reminder that the very thing Fenris struggles with feelings of hate and fear towards is carved into his skin for the rest of time and always will be

Vaea is brave to step in, standing up for what she believes is right and also re-centering focus on the critical mission at hand

;___; Autumn helping keep Tractus on the ground. she is such a good girl. she Help

“You’re lucky the mabari is here” - having Fenris in a dark light here relative to the rest of the panel is nicely symbolic

oh shit!! some plot advancement in terms of the ongoing story of the wider world. The Antaam have now reached Neromenian!! the invasion is progressing further and further into Tevinter. how far will it have come by the time of DA4? will there be an active war front not far from Minrathous? I appreciate the comics from this team a lot, here and there they push forward the ‘story of Thedas’ not just the story of the comic’s focus. also, I like that the Qunari soldiers here aren’t clones of one another but all look different. different hairstyles, sizes/bodies, clothes

love how our group work together, everyone has a strength and a role to play, the teamwork, the delegation, they’re like a DA basegame party or a D&D party

the way Fenris’ hand and arm glow in this sequence has been drawn/colored is smart - calling to mind the image of blue veins running through someone’s arm or below the skin on the backs of their hands

Fenris has surely picked up Fereldan sayings from Hawke.. stop .. my heart ;__;

the Fenris/Autumn exchange

this is so intense.. why do I get the feeling that Fenris has used this sort of torture technique before in his hunting and extermination of Danarius’ adult children campaign and/or his hunting of slavers as the BW with Shirallas campaign. it feels like he has done this sort of thing before in the time post-Kirkwall. I like that they didn’t hold back with a bit of gore here and there in this issue (phasing a hand and then solidifying it inside someone’s body, the Qunari attack portion in the street etc), while at the same time not being excessive with it.

this miniseries so far has good pacing, things moving along nicely and not being too slow or meandering

it’s smart having Tractus’ explanation of how to get in stay off-screen to the reader while we follow Francesca calling the alarm. It means we get to find out as we watch them infiltrate

omg those puncture wounds from his talons

when Fenris is about to kill Tractus after he tells him what he wanted to know, I’m strongly reminded of how he promised to let Hadriana go then killed her anyway, regardless of player choice. he has his ruthless streak and it feels like a callback. and before, when he was standing over Tractus when he was on the floor, echoes that scene in A Bitter Pill when he stands over Hadriana on the ground, who also reached for her staff

Tractus pale with bloodloss and fear

lmao @ Fran and Autumn’s faces when they walk in on this scene

Fenris listening to Vaea is nicely consistent with his character too imo - there are times in DA2 when Hawke can be like “Fenris no don’t do the Thing” and he doesn’t do the Thing

I have missed the way Fenris’ nose bridge crinkles when he’s angry

I wonder what the consequences of leaving Tractus alive will be. [tv announcer voice] FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON DARK FORTRESS

so the ritual will only take minutes to complete huh 👀

wow Neromenian has truly fallen, reeducation of the people of Tevinter continues as in Three Trees to Midnight in TN

explaining that they are speaking in Qunlat is a nice immersive touch and shows attention to detail of the lore of the world

bobbly-shoulders Qunari, Legolas hair Qunari, septum piercing Qunari, bobbly-brow Qunari, undercut Qunari. I wonder if the shoulder and brow protrusions are aspects we’ll see in the Qunaris’ latest design in DA4?

poor Tractus can’t catch a break lol. it has Not been Tractus’ day

Karasten: an infantry field commander

bit of Tevinter lampshading, lil fourth wall break with “This land and its obsession with magic. There is always a forbidden ritual with them” hhhhhh

Ringwraith on a horse moment at the end there

strong ending, can’t wait for next month weww.. 👀

[monotonous-minutia]

Merlin mini-rant

I really like the show but one of the things that doesn’t sit quite as well with me is the handling of who started as possibly my second-favorite character, Morgana.

I like heroine Morgana. She’s sassy and spunky and sweet, has a little more humility (and possibly humanity, at least at first) than Arthur, so they balance each other out at the start. Despite the fact that (and I’m still not really sure why they do this, because it doesn’t last long) the narrative seems to ship them at first, they have a really sweet, genuine sibling relationship that helps build the foundation of their friend group/found family. Morgana is physically strong and agile without the narrative making her sacrifice her femininity to be so (as is too often seen). She’s also very smart and talented in ways that others aren’t; while several characters are off winning physical battles afar, she’s at home winning battles with words. There are many episodes in Season One where the story would not have ended as well as they did if she hadn’t said what she did, to whom she did. She knows the ins and outs of the palace, she knows who’s who, and she knows what everyone’s priorities are, so she can almost always find the right thing to say to make them see sense, and often come to realizations that help them grow as people. She has a deep, innate empathy to those around her regardless of rank, while still recognizing ranks enough to utilize her power appropriately (and sometimes just be a little priss--she’s young, y’know). She’s incredibly gay with Gwen and I love it.

I also like villain Morgana. Her journey from the above-described heroine to the ruthless villain we see by the end of the series is well-thought-out, and the slow deterioration of her morality based on the events she goes through is both heartbreaking and makes me want to bang my head into the wall. She continues to be incredibly powerful, still using her wit and words as weapons, as well as becoming an alarmingly great sorceress. Her degeneration from the stately figure we see early on to the deranged witch by the end of the action is meticulous. And the fact that she’s still very attached to Gwen even after all these developments, and even when Gwen makes the choice to stay in Camelot, is an interesting touch that adds a depth to her that isn’t always seen with villains.

But I gotta say I love heroine Morgana more, and not really just for emotional reasons.

I’m not mad that the main villain of the series ends up being a woman, because the idea that women can’t be villains is just ridiculous to me. And, as said before, her arc is very well-written imo, so it doesn’t seem like a cop-out, like “we just wanted a girl villain bc girls are bad.”

I am a little mad that when the main villain turns out to be a woman, it leaves only one woman in the principle cast of heroes. Not that Gwen can’t totally hold her own, but it would have been nice to have her dynamic feminine duo with Morgana (and their ridiculous gayness) for the rest of the series, rather than leaving the majority of the action up to the men. Plus, I think keeping Morgana around as a hero might have given Gwen more outlets to be involved in the main action as well, since these two are definitely a power couple.

Dramatically speaking I think it might have worked better, too. Again, I like the villain arc Morgana gets--it isn’t rushed and it’s well-thought-out. But I think it would have been even nicer to have them be two different characters. Maybe keep Nimueh around for a few extra seasons, and/or introduce someone else with the same powers Morgana ends up with. Or keep Morgause; she could even still be Morgana’s half-sister, but Morgana refuses to join her, adding another layer to the hero/villain dynamics. Her backstory could be similar, and we could see parts of it along the way as it intertwines with the rest of the plot.

But I would have loved to see Morgana stay in Camelot as one of the lead heroes. Early on she doesn’t seem to have any desire to gain the throne (and I always thought the whole “she’s-actually-Uther’s-biological-daughter” thing was a cop-out anyway), so I can totally see her finding herself in a supportive, advisor-type role to Arthur as he takes on more and more responsibility. Their sibling dynamic would provide a lot of genuine sweetness and sassy banter throughout. She could continue to provide valuable assistance during the adventures, using her words and knowledge and influence to help out, becoming wiser as the years go on and helping Arthur build a strong kingdom.

She could have continued her super-sweet relationship with Gwen, supporting her as she slowly becomes more important in the court, vouching for her despite her rank, and continuing to be incredibly gay.

I think it would have been really cool if she and Merlin connected early on about their magic and confided in each other. I would have loved to see the two of them struggling together as they harness their powers, and bonding over that; and Merlin for once being able to take on a mentor-type role where his contributions are actually acknowledged, as he helps Morgana through the early stages of her revelations. Plus, it would help both of them feel much less alone, which not only saves Morgana from the villain path, but also gives Merlin some of the attention and support that he needs and never effing gets.

I think it would be funny if Arthur’s impression that they’re flirting continued throughout the series as a running gag, especially as they’d be making excuses to spend more time together so they can help each other with their magic. They could even use it to their advantage at times to get him off their backs. (On that note, I can see Morgana concluding the series with no other love interest than Gwen, though it would also be funny if she continually received suitors that were more running gags or funny side-plots to other stories).

I can almost see it like this: instead of refusing to tell Morgana that he also has magic in 2x3 (“The Nightmare Begins”), Merlin actually does tell her, so instead of her going to the Druids and starting that path of conflict, she and Merlin become closer and her goals become more focused and she’s less scared, and that prevents her from going down the path of darkness.

As Morgana works to understand and control her powers, she could learn about its history and lore and the Old Religion and stuff and be able to help identify sorcery and mythical creatures when they come across them.

And her relationship with Mordred could add yet another layer to the hero/villain dynamic; she could take on a mentoring role for him when he joins the Knights, maybe even helping him out with his magic and trying to get him into her and Merlin’s little “magic circle.” Merlin’s suspicion of Mordred could cause some juicy personal conflict between him and Morgana, and Mordred’s inevitable betrayal would be devastating in a dramatically satisfying way, if that makes sense.

All in all, I do like villain Morgana and her whole villain arc; but I would have liked it even more if she’d stayed in Camelot as one of the heroes, keeping her place in the principle cast of characters and remaining an important part of their friend group/Disaster Bi Club.

anyway....those are my thoughts...idk if anyone on here even knows what I’m talking about lol but I wanted to get it out there; I usually do my TV show rants on Twitter but the character limit for posts prevents long stuff like this.

[untaintedtea]

I should have written this earlier when Witcher Netflix was more fresh in my mind (I haven't done a proper rewatch yet) but I still wanted to write a post about some thoughts I had (that I actually remember lol) and stuff I want in the next season. It's like 99% about Geralt/Yen/Ciri bc I have three brain cells and they're dedicated to them.

The spoiler-free stuff: I definitely loved it! There's some scenes in the book that I would have loved to have seen on screen that I'll mention later, but I really liked it for the most part. My main issue is the pacing, but I understand them trying to fit so much into only 8 episodes -- I hope next season will have at least 10 or even 12 eps to fully flesh out the storylines. There were times where I wondered how easy it was to follow if you didn't know the books, and it seems that it's kinda been mixed? But all-in-all people are loving it, there's lots of memes and new content, and I'm happy about that.

Yennefer's backstory and Anya Chalotra were the highlights for me, and I loved Tissaia as well. By "I haven't done a proper rewatch" I mean that I've only rewatched the first ep (Renfri ❤️) and the parts with Geralt/Yennefer lmao. I'll prob watch it all again later on. Now to the spoilery stuff (includes some refs to the books):

Some specific stuff I liked:

Geralt finally being able to sleep in the Last Wish episode and then him saying in the next ep that before he met Yen, "nights were restless" so she/the thought of her helps him sleep now? lol

Yen touching Geralt's face after he tells her she's important to him as if she can't believe she's important to someone right then and needs to make sure he's real or that she's not dreaming 😭

Téa and Véa and how they actually talked instead of not really communicating well themselves in the books

Yen's elven blood being emphasized and it being a thing that allows her to be naturally inclined towards magic…idek I'm just into that lmao

Geralt "hm"-ing all the time was excellent and is, unfortunately, v relatable

I wasn't gonna say this but since I posted about his casting on my blog previously…I'm still not a fan of Henry but I cannot deny his knowledge and dedication to Geralt and the Witcher lore, and I think he portrayed Geralt very well to the point where I don’t think I imagine anyone else playing the role now? I really mean this bc before I refused to reblog/tweet anything with him in it bc I’m petty LMAO

This is obvious but Toss a Coin to Your Witcher is the song of the year and Her Sweet Kiss is also good. @ netflix soundtrack WHEN

Some stuff I have issues with:

Istredd getting an expanded storyline is fine with me (and will probably set up better angst) but I wish he didn't do the thing Geralt does in Thanedd where he thinks about things Yen likes…I guess that's minor by itself, but Geralt thinking about the house in Thanedd is so important and I hope at least they keep that for the future. Also making the imaginary sorcerers Yennefer conjured up clap like in Thanedd is like…ok I'll allow it but Thanedd better be Extra Good bc I remember reading the part where they're in bed again when I wanted to make myself upset lmao

I wish we got the line when Geralt first called Yennefer "Yen" because "nobody's ever called me that. Say it again" is SO POWERFUL and I think that would have helped set up Geralt/Yen better in the series. Anya did describe the relationship as "animalistic and full of lust" and honestly that's fair but I also want people to understand why tf I'm smiling when we watch them fuck after the last wish instead of being like "ok but where did this come from" lmao. Yeah they’re horny af but pls!!!

Tbh I just want more Angst...like in the Bounds of Reason ep, the "you left" thing and Geralt asking for forgiveness was so short and would have been better if they just…expanded on it a little more…idek this is where I really wished they had an extra episode or two just to elaborate :/

The lack of baby dragon is so sad tbh. I liked that they did without Yen getting her titties exposed and threatened with rape obviously but the baby dragon running over to Yen tho!!

Ciri is my sweet child whom I love dearly and I understand her storyline but I wasn't super into her parts in a way? It makes sense since she's running and hiding and I felt her panic and loneliness and all that, but I think this could have only been fixed if they did Brokilon like in the books. I guess they'd have to cut down on Calanthe maybe?

As for the "Who is Yennefer?" ending:

I know many book readers weren't super satisfied with this, since ofc this is the famous "you're something more" scene, but I think it's fine within the context of the show because of the way Brokilon was handled (obviously I would have liked to see Geralt + Ciri interactions so we could have gotten “something more” though). It also sets up a connection between Yen + Ciri early on -- not really a strong one, but a connection nonetheless. And ofc it makes sense to people who don't know the books, and this is an adaptation after all.

I wish it wasn't as abrupt though? The fact that Ciri's first words to Geralt were about Yennefer is kind of a weird, but I guess that Ciri's vision was so vivid she couldn't help it maybe? And her mentioning Yennefer after Geralt talked about being linked by destiny enforces that it's all three of them linked.

I think this ending line allows for flashbacks via communication? Like if Geralt were to tell Ciri about Yen (and Yen telling Ciri about Geralt), they could elaborate on the relationship between Geralt/Yennefer that way and maybe have a flashback episode or at least a few scenes. I don’t really imagine Geralt saying too much about Yen but still?

So that takes us to things I want in the next season (not exhaustive; I need to do a BoE re-read):

The Dear Friend letter!!

And obviously before that, Triss staying at Kaer Morhen for a while…I wouldn't mind if they completely wrote out any attraction she had to Geralt ofc, but Ciri being sure that Triss is "not Geralt's woman" is also good

Imagine Ciri reading Yennefer's mind and accidentally seeing her thoughts about Geralt…not that she'd even need to though, as long as Yen tells Ciri that Geralt's hands are very gentle is enough lmao. But I'd love the "what is there between you and Geralt" line! In general, I really want Yen/Geralt to be like, the most obvious thing to the audience lol.

Yen telling Ciri that she's lucky bc Ciri knows that Geralt will come back for her and Yen isn't sure that Geralt would do the same for her 😭

Since they're doing the story with Nivellen, I'm hoping for other short stories to be adapted too. My favourite is A Shard of Ice, and I read that it's Henry's favourite too so I'm optimistic about it being included somehow. And since Istredd has a bigger role, it could work? ALSO WE NEED EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNICORN. PLEASE

Flashbacks to Belleteyn (is having another orgy scene ok. pls say yes) and the Geralt seeing that the 14th name on the hill wasn't Yennefer. He wanted to die again ahhhhhhh

Yarpen asking Geralt "is [Ciri] yours?"

More Jaskier songs about Geralt/Yen…even just one pls

And more angst bc like. There's so much come on lmao hurt the audience

A lot of Yennefer + Ciri. Just a Lot of it.

[thearcanistparadise]

Saz Lafontelle

“The necromancer that loves to learn new ways to explore the limits of life and death.”

This character is also in F-List, this is his page (NSFW).

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Fav. Food: Angel hair with mushroom dressing

Fav. Drink: Black coffee

Fav. Flower: Dark purple orchid

LI: Valdemar

BFFs: Perfice (OC), Feibbis (OC), Volta, Julian, Nadia.

Yes, he’s highly inspired by me lol

I’m actually genderfluid, I would say while Saoirse is inspired by my feminine side, Saz is my masculine side. I’ve already created a lot of stories about him, most of them I just adapt for him to fit in the lore he is in. This one is based on the story where he is a member of the Lafontelle family.

Saz has a huge crush on Valdemar and has a really hard time trying to hide his desire for them, he often feels anxious around them and had been wanting to ask them out since he got to the palace. Sometimes he just wanted them to tie him on the tables and play with him as they please.

Family and childhood

Saz was born in the Fitzgerald family, twin brother of Saoirse Fitzgerald, son of Maeve and Aiden Fitzgerald, two important members of the family.

The Fitzgerald family was part of the Alumina clan, a coven of witches blessed on their crown chackras by light spirits, granting powers of clarevoyance and really strong connections with the spiritual realm. The more power they have in their crown chackra, silver white locks start to appear on their hair.

The Fitzgeralds were really conservative and stern, one of the most traditional families of the clan, they had a name to preserve.

Saz already knew he was transgender since his early teens, and was really curious about the dark magic his family condemned so much.

Saoirse was really worried and, instead of asking “her sister” about what whas happening, she told their mother about how strangely “she” was acting.

Their parents then searched on his room and found not only his journals and male clothes, but also books of dark magic. He was 13 by that time.

As a punishment, his father took his powers away and obligated him to relearn magic from the beginning, along with rigid and cruel rules, such as forbidding him from leaving the house and obligating him to use certain clothes chosen by his mother, who dressed him every morning.

When he completed 14 years old, and wasn’t allowed to celebrate his own birthday, as part of the punishment. Feeling abandoned, completely desperate, he ran away from home that night. He regretted it by the morning, but it was too late to go back.

The family temple was hidden by a glamour, that could only be taken down by a spell he couldn’t cast anymore. He was lost in the city, homeless and lonely.

 Perfice and the Lafontelles

By the time Saz was homeless, Perfice was visiting his city, searchging for special magical grapes to make wine. They crossed paths a couple of times, until she got curious and decided to try and talk to him.

It was long since Perfice last had a deal with a human and ate a soul. In the beginning of their relationship, it was all just a game for her. She promised giving him everything he wanted until he turned 21, and his soul would be hers. It was hard for him to accept, but his starving stomach and the idea of having his life back spoke louder.

She protected him, supported him, and taught him the magic simple humans are able to practice. It was nothing compared to the power he had with the blessing of the spirits, but it was good to cast magic again. She also supported him a lot about his gender questions and sexuality.

By the day he turned 21, Perfice was supposed to eat his soul. But after practically raising a kid since his teens, protecting him as her own child, she developed a feeling of motherhood towards him, and he felt the same for her. She just couldn’t end that.

She wasn’t obligated to eat his soul, it was simply hers. She could do whatever she wanted with it. So, instead, she bound his soul to her magical core, granting him immortality from aging, and adopted him as her son.

 A new life

Being now a new member of the Lafontelles, Saz couldn’t even remember his old family anymore. All he could think of were his new opportunities of knowledge and power to become the sorcerer he always wanted to be, and enjoyed his new family who loved him.

Now he had the right to use the family ring and necklace, that granted him some of Perfice’s powers. And being close to Perfice, and studying the occult arts, he couls now join The Antumbra.

The Antumbra is the fraternity that Perfice, Feibbis and other members of the family participated. It was a group that welcomed “any creature that wanders in the darkness”, with the intention of sharing knowledge, power and connections.

Saz was a natural. He passed the tests to enter the fraternity with barely no effort and started making really good friends and learning new things.

It was by that time he officially chose the name “Saz” for his social name. His first guide and teacher in the fraternity, Liara, gave him this nickname. In her hometown’s old dialect, “Saz” was the word for “gracious”.

 The need for something more

In The Antumbra, after reaching the first level, the member must choose a path and an interest area, and look for a new teacher to guide them until the second and third levels. The teacher can be from outside the fraternity.

By the time, he was reading necromancy and medicine books, out of curiosity and thirst for knowledge. He wondered if necromancy could be used along with science to improve medicine and save lives.

When he had the idea to start studying medicine, he started having this weird dreams.

It was only him. Alone in the woods, sometimes in the shore, sometimes in the middle of city. Naked. Skyclad, actually. Submerged in an endless night. It was only him and his only company was the moon. No… Moons. There were two of them. Two gigantic bright red moons on the night sky.

And to understand why that was happening, we need to go back a few years, when he was 19, back in the day when his deal with Perfice was still going on.

After thinking a lot about it, he finally decided he wanted to take his breasts off. from a long long time, Perfice was friends with Valdemar. She then asked them for help, and they offered themselves to perform the mastectomy.

As soon as Saz arrived the dungeons and met eyes with Valdemar, he was already blushing and didn’t know where to put his face. There was something in their intimidating tall body and sadistic look that was… Alluring?

When he started having those dreams, he finally decided he wanted to study necromancy and biology. Perfice thought it would be a good idea to ask Valdemar to take him as their apprentice, since they already knew each other and the doctor was so strongly connected to death.

Of course Valdemar noticed Saz had a crush on them, it was actually kind of obvious. And they didn’t really care in the beginning, they were very professional and serious about the lessons. But after knowing him better, they couldn’t help but feel attracted too, Saz deserved his name.

He was not only gracious and studious, but he was also different from the other doctors when witnessing Valdemar’s cruel and macabre methods. He was curious, thirsty for knowledge, always taking notes and making interesting questions. He kind of reminded Valdemar from the days they were still human, discovering the mysteries of death and life.

 Pounding hearts

Saz was in the middle of his second level when he finally performed his first successful surgery and necromancy spell, he also found out he had a really strong power to bring people back to life from the edge of death. To celebrate, Valdemar decided to give him a tour in The Death’s Realm, which was still in their power by the time.

It was like Hades showing his realm to Persephone. Saz was completely faccinated, from the macabre things to the fantastic ones. He was curious like a child, asking about everything he saw. Valdemar could feel an involuntary grin forming on his face, he was almost cute to watch.

At some point, they reached a dark grove replete of insects glowing in the dark. The pink-ish lights reflecting on Saz’s skin was too beautiful to ignore. Valdemar finally approached him, observing each graciously shy movement the necromancer made, until having him facing backwards a huge tree, his only option to look them in the eyes.

He then could understand. The dreams he had, those weren’t moons. They were Valdemar’s eyes.

The doctor pulled his mask down, their both seductive and intimidating semblance sending chills down his spine and creating butterflies in his stomach. When they closed the distance between their lips, Saz couldn’t do anything but melt into their touch.

 The rest of the story will be told in posterior posts ;)

[thecatduet422]

SECOND CHAPTER WAS SO GOOD im foaming at the mouth i love love LOVE the way you’re writing the reader rn, she’s so <3333 !!!!!! also this lore and world building is so immersive and interesting! i’m like fully invested in this and i read both chapters in one sitting, i really liked all the stylistic choices and the ye old words it really was a good touch. i’m also thoroughly in love with the way you characterise bakugou! total heart eyes for him because he’s not just totally mean, you can tell he’s noble and has his soft spots with the little subtleties in your writing and it just makes him all the more attractive ahhh!!! :heart eyes: ALSO ALSO when i tell you i was screaming internally when the reader challenged bakugou to a fight instead, you don’t understand how excited i was for that because i’m SO deprived of kickass readers and she did NOT disappoint, i’m so glad that it turned out as a draw and she relied upon her skills and wits than just pure strength and wasn’t easily overpowered, im totally sold.and the fact that bakugou is considering her???? omg i want more of THEM. so yh im in love with that little fight scene and bakugou and this fic SM and look forward to whatever you come up with next, you did such a good job with this! <333333

Oh, thank you! Thank you, friend! That's super kind of you. I'm glad you like it!

This is my first time coming up with names and cities in a different language. I was super nervous about it, and very worries it was gonna come off cheesy and unnatural. So I'm glad you find the work immersive! That's what I was hoping for lol.

And yesss, I'm having mad fun writing dragon king!bakugou. Love going into what kind of king he would be, also his motivation for the throne, etc.

For me, he's definitely a king of conquest, doesn't give a shit about protocols AT ALL, and also- I feel like he's the type of king that shines in combat, is an excellent commander, but when it comes to actual ruling he's... uncomfortable.

I mean, sitting on a rock and listening to people go on and on about their troubles, expecting him to just magically fix them? Nahhhh, that ain't Kacchan. He definitely feels more comfortable when they're at war (as of now *wink wink*)

And I'm glad you like lady!reader. If youre familiar with GoT, she is definitely inspired by Arya (with Sansa thrown in there as well lol). I love the idea of her House's sigil being a fox, instead the stereotypical Wolf. Lady!reader doesn't put up shit, for sure, but she is definitely more quiet and thoughtful- she *thinks* about things before following through, and uses how people see her to her advantage (small, disarming, etc.)

Can't wait for the next two chapters! Planning for them to be a bit longer, cause that's when we get to the GOOD shit 😎

[for-the-fel-of-it-blog]

Warcraft Demons

and Whether or not They can be the Bound Demon of a Demon Hunter;

Brought to you by the horde of people I need to constantly correct and fight over this with. No salt there are all! :) For context to be able to be a bound demon to an Illidari the creature must have a soul, an edible heart, drinkable blood and be able to be killed by a normal elf, armed only with hunting daggers.

Added note for Tumblr’s sake. I GM a guild called The Spectral Watch. That likely means nothing to most of you even in the RP world but to a select few on Argent Dawn, EU, it basically means I make DH lore. My guild is one of oldest Illidari RP guilds and, essentially, it’s the only Illidari guild on the realm who are still active and recruiting.

One of my discretions as GM is being able to decide who joins the guild and who does not. And we currently have a monopoly on Illidari RP. And I am a massive lore whore. I know my Demon Hunter lore back to front and while I am forgiving of newbies who merely don’t understand, I don’t have time for God Modders and Mary Sues. A lot of people will disagree with this list, or say certain ridiculously powerful Demons should be bound. Frankly I’m just calling them wrong.

And while I’m not Blizzard’s lore team (lol, as if they have a lore team) I am pretty much the face of DH RP on one of the biggest EU realms. So if you are European and want to RP a DH Alliance side, you will probably meet me at some point. And I will silently judge you if you’re bound to bloody Mannoroth. Anyway!

Disclaimer I apparently need to add; my presentation style is of smug prick. I am meant to look like an asshole via this writing style. The amount of people who are calling me out for it, despite me having already clarified this in a reblog, and having no prior engagement with my tiny RP blog is ridiculous. Literally only my six followers who know that I am being satirical and my RP buddies were meant to see it. I clarified this in a reblog everyone has universally ignored. Oh well! Be warned, from now those being needlessly rude will be blocked.

Abyssal;

They are constructs and lack a soul, therefore cannot be bound.

Annihilan (Pitlords);

Obviously not. They are massive, monsterbeast. They would absolutely crush you. They are among some of the most daunting Demons in the Legion’s ranks. There is no way you can be boud to these.

Antaen;

These things are so big Illidan and Velen mistook the head of one for a siege weapon. There is no way in hell you can be bound to these things.

Aranasi;

Yes… And no. Aransi broodmothers (the humanoids) are far too powerful to be a bound Demon… But broodlings (the spiders) are acceptable.

Bilescourge;

Bilescourge are pretty small creatures and not exactly the most powerful or intelligent, being almost batlike and bestial in nature. So in theory they could be bound but they are found only on Argus. Meaning in order to be bound to one, you would have to have been trained as an Illidari during the short months on Argus.

Darkhound;

Yes. They are considered a mere nuisence by the Forsaken in Tirisfall Glades and while their origin is unknown, they appeared shortly after the third war in Azeroth. Therefore, they would be viable for very early Demon Hunters, or those trained after the DHs were released by the Wardens. But those trained at the Black Temple might not have had them as an option, given they were stuck on Outland.

Doomguard;

Massive warriors who serve the Burning Legion with such passion, they are part of Archimonde’s personal escort and serve directly under Pitlords. They could not be bound.

Doomlord;

These are the most powerful Doomguards and are elite Commanders of the Legion. They cannot be bound.

Dreadsteeds;

Unlike Felsteeds, who are merely horses warped by great amounts of Fel energy, Dreadsteeds are Demons from the planet Xoroth. A fiery world where they are cultivated by Dreadlords. Despite being Demonic mounts of the Nathrezim, they are rather similiar to horses and are beast at their core. They could be bound.

Felbat;

The adults are massive and vicious, tearing seasoned warriors limb from limb… But youngsters and many and plentiful, and would be an easy kill for an Illidari initiate. The hatchlings can be bound.

Fel Beast;

Far too big and unyieldy to be easily killed armed with only daggers. Also made largely of stone and fire, so it is possible they’re actually constructs but it is not confirmed. They cannot be bound.

Felguard;

The base line soldiers of the Burning Legion and, interestingly, a type of Mo'arg. Could be bound.

Felhound;

Yes. This isn’t even speculation. This is the one Demon who, without a doubt, is confirmed as Vandel in the Illidan novel is bound to a Felhound. The one who killed his son, even.

Fel Imp;

More powerful than normal Imps, but still perfectly bindable.

Fiend (Terroguard, Fear Fiend, Terrorfiend);

No, no, no. Massive, powerful and easily able to bat you to the ends of the earth with those wings. These are off the menu.

Fel Lord;

An evolved type of Felguard, working in direct service to Archimonde. Toweringly large Demons. Unable to be bound. However an Illidari bound to a Felguard, who takes on enough Fel magic, could transform their bound demon and gain many of the aspects of a Fel Lord. At risk, of course, of the power being too much and being consumed.

Felstalker;

Similiar to Felhound’s but pack hunters instead of magic leeches. They’re a pretty solid yes for being able to be bound.

Gan'arg;

Stunted Mo'arg. Pretty small. Pesky little engineers. Could be bound.

Imp;

Yes. Do I need to explain why? They’re too small to be threatening, apart from in a pack… But Illidari bound to one take use of their cunning and magical affinity and are in constrast very dangerous.

Imp Mother;

No. The thing that spawns the Imps is powerful, believe it or not, is rather powerful and are much rarer. They cannot be bound.

Infernal;

Are constructs and lack a soul. Cannot be bound.

Inquisitor;

Are far too powerful. Gifted Fel casters and specialists in dark pacts, armed with their many eyes, these would be impossible to kill only with daggers. No.

Jailers;

Similiar to Inquisitors in many ways, aside from being armed with their cages that trap both body and soul instead. No.

Man'ari Eredar;

No. The forefront of the Legion, the backbone and poster children. Most certainly are off the list.

Mo'arg;

Some of the smartest Demons in the Burning Legion. They make up for what they lack in strength with brains. Servants of Sargeras, once, when he still belonged to the Pantheon. These could be bound. I used to say ‘no, they couldn’t’ due to their smarts and high tech weaponary but in retrospect, said feltech would likely be taken from them before the ritual and physically an Elf would outpower them without it.

Nathrezim (Dreadlords);

Commanders, Lieutenants, Puppeteers of the Legion. Cunning and some of the most dangerous Demons to be pitted against. Even Illidan himself had some trouble taken on their more notable members, like Tichondris, who nearly destroyed all of Felwood. Could not be bound.

Observer;

Massive, floating eyeball demons. Absolutely disgusting to look at and rather mighty. Not able to be bound.

Overfiend;

There is very little lore on these other than being big, fiery hunks. Likely constructs. No.

Satyr;

Despite common belief they can be other races not including Night Elves. Illidan himself isn’t actually bound to a Demon, rather just Demonic in nature and corrupted by Fel, so in likelihood the closest description of his being would be a Satyr. In theory these could be bound, so yes but I heavily dislike the idea. It basically means you’re a Elf bound to something that is probably just a slighter eviler elf.

Shivarra;

The six armed fanatical equivilate of Demonic Priests. Very powerful and often weild swords in all six arms, blazzing the battlefield. They cannot be bound.

Succubus (Sayaad);

The nightmarish interrogators and slave drivers of the Burning Legion, conducting themselves with an air of seducation and cunning. Can be bound.

Tothrezim;

Cousins of the Nathrezim and those responsible for the creation of the Infernals. For similiar reasons, they cannot be bound.

Ur'zul;

Nightmare Fuel. Created from the broken bodies of Members of the Army of the Light or the Krokuul Broken. Existing solely on Argus as far as we know and very powerful as a result of the inhumane magic they were created by. Not able to be bound.

Vilefiend;

Canine like Demons infused with acid. Existing solely on Argus, as far as we know. These cannot be bound. Or touched unless you like acid burns.

Void Hound (Void Terror);

Two headed doglike Demons, infused with nearly endless amounts of magic, that roam the Twisting Nether. Cannot be bound.

Wrathguard;

Man'ari who serve as the honour guard for the Commanders of the Legion. Nope.

Wrymtongue;

Small Demons, used mostly for labour. Meek and usually kept as slaves, while they horde shiny things. Can be bound.

And that is every Demon in Warcraft lore as per currently (currently being the end of Legion). In total on this list there are 36 types of Demon in all. There are also in total 15 types of Demon all in all that can be bound, not including subfactions that I did not feel were different enough to merit including (Felhounds and Manastalkers, Felstalkers and Dreadstalkers, The different types of Mistresses and their powers for Sayad). That means the majority of demons cannot be bound but it does leave a good, varied range of choice and I would ask you stick to those 15 as law.

[novadreii]

The Ancient Magus' Bride: A Review

Big spoilers ahead.

I’m not often compelled to write full-length reviews on series that I watch, but this one elicited an interesting response from me. I don’t think I’ve ever negatively changed my mind about an anime halfway through. If I like something from the start, I usually like it all the way through to the end. If I loathe something from the start, I try to determine if there’s room for development/improvement before continuing. And I’ve seen a good amount of shows turn it around.

But TAMG was really a strange experience for me. Everything pointed towards this being a quality show. All the signs were there. And I will commend it on what it did right. This show had gorgeous animation, lovely voice acting, and a breathtaking original soundtrack. As I said, all the signs pointed to this being a winner, maybe the best anime of the last 5 years or so.

But sadly, TAMG is, at its core, a reductive escapist fantasy for young girls.

I know, that is a bold statement. But I have evidence to support my claim! Promise.

We start off the show with Chise being bought by the titular Ancient Mage at a slave auction. It’s okay, though, because she willingly sold herself into slavery. Wait, you can do that? I guess. Anyway. This show’s big selling point is Chise’s growth from a sad girl with nothing to live for to...well, someone who is not that way. And it’s a relatable backstory for a main character. So far, so good.

But the rest of plot fails to sufficiently develop the rest of the world, lore, and characters in a way that makes Chise’s development interesting enough. Side characters are given at most one (1) episode of backstory before being utterly forgotten for the entire rest of the series. Plot points that you think will eventually loop back for an interesting game of Raise the Stakes just kind of wander out to sea and never come back (aka Chise’s family...um...her dad and brother are still out there!). The lore of the fairies and magic is just kind of there and never properly explored or utilized. Chise is supposedly there to learn magic from Elias as her teacher, yet we don’t really ever see him instructing her in the theory of it, or her magical skills progressing. All we’re really told is that Chise is both incredibly strong and weak as shit as the same time. Makes sense.

Elias’ origin is completely ignored, even that could have been an amazing addition to the story as it’s so shrouded in mystery and intrigue and often hinted at by several characters. So, at about the rough halfway point of the series, I had all these loose ends and unexplored areas of the story in my head that I was really excited about, but they never materialized in the second half. The main “villain” in the show was kind of sad and easily defeated.

The second cour of the show was focused almost exclusively on what is, in my opinion, the most mundane, cloying, and dull part of the story: the relationship between Elias and Chise. Yep, sorry friends. I don’t find these two even remotely well suited to each other in any capacity, least of all romantic. Try picturing them together when Elias is in human form; that creeps me out more than his usual form. From the very beginning, I have disliked Elias. I find him boring. Oh boohoo, you’ve been wandering around Earth for hundreds of years and still haven’t figured out what “sad” “happy” “jealous” and “angry” feel like? Are you stupid as well as inexperienced, or just willfully ignorant? Because he managed to study and become proficient in the art of magecraft, but never could figure out why watching Titanic made his eyes leak? How many times do we have to watch Elias clutch his heart and say, “Is this what _______ feels like?” Just shut up. I find it hard to believe that in between all the magic and failed cooking lessons with Lindel, they never talked about how they felt in the hundreds of years that Lindel was taking care of him? *Dr. Phil voice* Really now?

Elias’ cluelessness about basic human emotions is the basis for about 99% of the personal conflicts/drama in the story, and it gets tiresome and feels cheap. Why does anime love to center on characters who don’t know how to feel? Does it give them more agency to act like a dick? Do young girls swoon after men who don’t really care about anything? Elias is frustrating, because we never get to see him break through that monotonous “teach me how to feel” crap, except for when he’s having a rage tantrum. But we never see him buckle down and really unload on how he’s feeling in an open and communicative way. He’s very selective with what he shares, and when he does it’s because Chise is prodding him to do it.

What I found essentially disappointing about this story is how everything in it was just there to further the drama between Chise and Elias without actually furthering the story itself. Everything Elias does to Chise, from how he constantly touches/grabs/picks her up without her permission, how he looms over her menacingly in his monster form when he’s jealous, how he calls her diminutive pet names, irritates me. Chise is a child who has nothing; of course she is going to gravitate to someone who offers her the only thing she wanted: a place to call home. What’s his excuse? He is the one in the position of power, and does he ever use it to his advantage.

How many times do we witness Elias withholding information from Chise, policing her, acting shady, throwing a giant temper tantrum, and being generally creepy and possessive? The anime is masterful in that it succeeds in writing it all off as romantic and cute, because “Elias doesn’t know what emotions he’s feeling! It’s cause he must love her LOL” Again, this was a lame excuse so that Elias could have license to be an asshole. All they needed was a cool/handsome/monstrous character design and a smooth af voice actor to make it all okay. But it isn’t. Chise did not, and still doesn’t have the agency to choose differently.

And I almost fell for it too; that’s how good it is. Because it ropes you in with great production value. I admit that instinctively I am just a dumb ape who will go gaga over anything shiny and pretty. And this anime certainly is those things, but it doesn’t capitalize on the amazing potential it set up from its very beginning, choosing instead to focus on relationship drama between two people who really should not be involved romantically at all.

I ask this: would it have detracted from the story at all for them to have had an adoptive parent and child relationship, to which both characters’ age, experience, and power dynamic was a lot better suited? Would it have been less meaningful? Why did they have to be set up as husband and wife from the get go? What was the point, other than to provide a weak and frankly disturbing plot point? If parent/child is a no-go, how about we make the female main character older than 20 years old for once? Even that would have been preferable.

I did read the manga, and the author tries to dance around the issue by once again using Elias’ inexplicable lack of emotional intelligence as an excuse. He doesn’t know what a bride is, he doesn’t understand the concept of marriage, he means it innocently etc. Okay, BUT, Chise, the rest of the characters, the author of the manga himself, the readers, and literally everyone else understands exactly what marriage is and what it implies. That is the connection the author intends us to make with all the symbolism and mushy dialogue between the two of them (as well as other characters’ observations about them both). It doesn’t matter how ambiguous the author is being about something; if it’s there, it’s there. Let’s call the spade a spade.

So the story revolves primarily around the romantic development between an indisputably adult male who also holds all the resources/power, and an emotionally broken child who can’t refuse. TAMG did not develop the rest of its story enough to distract me from this point, and I was just never able to look past it. It was glaring at me with each episode I watched.

Sure, Chise gets mad sometimes, and Elias eventually comes around from pouting when he realizes he could lose her. He eventually offers a monotone apology and all is right as rain. Chise eventually develops into the Needlessly Self-Sacrificing Main Character that anime relies on just a touch too heavily. It feels disingenuous and not at all relatable. It’s tiresome.

Towards the end, Chise gets some resolution from an old painful memory during an arc where she finally breaks free of Elias so she can act of her own accord for once. Which I really liked. But then she just ran home, forgave Elias a little too easily for all his bullshit, and ended up “marrying” him (again, everything is shrouded in an infuriating layer of ambiguity because nobody wants to call it what it is, but alllllll the right symbolism is there, we can figure it out ffs). That came completely out of left field for me and solidified my hunch that this is meant to be a teen fantasy and little else: leaving everything behind only to be saved, controlled by, and obsessed over by an ominous, rich, handsome, and overbearing man who just won’t keep his hands to himself.

There’s so much more I wanted to know about, and I get that you can’t fit everything into 24 episodes. But people like Silky, Ruth, Renfred, and Alice were utterly forgotten about even though they had solid, developed stories in the beginning of the anime. It’s like they hooked me in and left me hanging; the whole time I was waiting for MORE from those characters. For Silky to say even one word or to have more of a relationship with Chise other than hugging her dramatically from time to time, for Chise and Ruth to have another mage/familiar moment (or even arc). Things like that would have added so much more depth and significance to the story than even one more minute of Elias and Chise awkwardly and needlessly cuddling (or sleeping in bed together....honestly, wtf).

So in conclusion (am I writing a thesis or something?), The Ancient Magus’ Bride felt something like a betrayal. It drew me in with the promise of a gorgeous and heartfelt story, only to focus on what I thought was an inappropriate and forced relationship. I’m sure 16-year-old me would have eaten all of this up like a six-course meal. It’s a Japanese twist on Twilight (therefore also reminiscent of the even worse Fifty Shades franchise). As I get older and automatically tend think a lot more critically about why I like or dislike things, something like this isn’t going to cut it for me. It pulled at the heartstrings with emotive music and pretty visuals, but left me wanting so much more. I don’t want the media I consume to make me feel like I should like it; I just want to.

To any teen girls who adore this anime, I’m not telling you what to personally like/dislike. But I do hope you’ll think about why you do, and contemplate the fact that just because something is wrapped up in pretty packaging, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s harmless. Love doesn’t have to mean being dominated, stalked, policed, or controlled. And you don’t have to be married before you’re 20 or it’s game over. Healthy relationships are balanced, with an equal flow of power, love, and trust between parties involved. They can happen at 17, 45, or never, and that’s all okay. My fear is that this anime will reinforce the exact opposite message with its audience, in a manner that is honestly kind of insidious. It was so well-made, the tone and ambiance they created is so lovely that the harmful messages will just fly over your head; like they almost did to me.

Or...just enjoy it without a second thought and leave me to my over-analyzing. I do admit I look very closely at things, but I don’t know any other way to be.

TLDR; A lot of style, not a whole lot of substance. 4.5/10

[horrible-monstrosity]

the triggering continues................

Throughout episodes 5 and 6 the show acts like it's setting up some deconstruction-reconstruction thing regarding the place of witches in the modern day... buuuuut they can't quite make it work.

The main problem is that they haven't actually developed the magical part of the setting that well or deeply yet, especially how it fits in to the world outside the school. (Again it still fucking bothers me that magic doesn't work outside of the school and it hasn't been properly explained how you're ever supposed to get around this; that alone you'd think would disqualify any reason for it to be considered useful...) The magic system just seems to be pretty boilerplate with a little "quirky"-ness tacked onto it. The only really interesting thing I think we've seen is the ley line bus stop sign, which actually told us a bit about the world and magic system, that witches could ride these leylines on their brooms to somehow ease travel (given the sorcerer's stone thing, perhaps to save energy or serve as an alternative source of energy) and that it was like public transport to them. ... buuuuut then this was only seen briefly in episode one and promptly never brought up again. Why not have the kids ride the ley lines a bit in the Twilight episode once they escaped? Better yet, this one little detail destroys the ability of the setting to pass itself off as just le 100% generic magic witches school setting that might have been able to get away with minimal worldbuilding and just rely on "it's exactly what you expect, don't worry about it". Which would actually have been the setting you'd want to use for this if you're saying the silly frivolous idealized fantasy trope-world most people know and think of is outdated and flimsy. But now I find myself wondering about the details of this magic world, the exact culture and development and frame of mind that would have led to that sign... all of which would affect how it holds up to modern day tech.

Without that developed we can't really see how useful or useless or how out of date magic is supposed to be, so we just have to take characters' word for it... and that's basically what we've done. And then since there's no details to the magic, no one can say what it's actually good for so the only counterpoint we can have is Akko being so enthusiastic and shiny-eyed that her opponents just look at her and melt.

On the other hand, I find myself wondering why no one in the magic community has tried to modernize magic in even the slightest way. If there's some staunch traditionalists in places of power, that would explain why nothing's ever been changed, but not why no one's ever tried. You'd expect clashes of ideals. Especially given Akko is such a confrontational character- it would fit perfectly for her to end up having it out with some stuffy teacher over how magic is treated in the modern age.

Even weirder, Chariot's magic has been called "old-fashioned" before, even though it seems more flashy or modern compared to the staid structured no-nonsense magic the school teaches.

It also hurts the setup that we don't know how advanced technology is in this world that it can entirely replace magic. how technology is the technology that magic is *entirely* replaced? Even today, things like medicine and surgery aren't entirely perfect and have all sorts of risks and side effects. Technology- or rather, the energy used to power it- has costs like pollution. You'd think being able to magic someone well or power things with sorcerer stones or whatever would still be desirable as an alternative or at least a companion to modern tech. But all we get is dragon guy's comedical millions of screens with le funny graph things on them.

oh and then the episode right after this kills the entire thing by mentioning witches doing useful stuff with their magic like investigating crime scenes an shiet... so fuck that i guesssffff................

So the more I think about it, the less I understand what the point of Lotte and Sushi's characters even is. Like, we understand Akko, but why are the other two here? Sushi's just there for mushrooms and doesn't give a fuck about classes, okay, but how much does she know about witching to begin with? Is she experienced or does she just only give a fuck about her one area of interest and just ignores everything else? The other students seem to be basically novices, is she older than them or something? I just don't get her... thing. What is she?

And Lottie, just... why is she with these cunts? She's not particularly, like, trying to be the voice of reason for them, going after them when they start shit because she knows she's the only one who even has a chance of keeping them in line. She just... continues to exist in their general area. The twilight episode (gaggg) show she has her vices, but it doesn't take her anywhere near enough to the other two to be a "not so above it all" thing. She doesn't steal pies, she doesn't fucking straight up try to fucking kill people... Her only "crime" is being late to the entrance ceremony because she was in the general vicinity of the others. Even if that gets her saddled with the other two, just looking at them you'd think she'd be out of there on good behavior in no time. Or she'd get directly pulled into their bullshit and be blamed along with them more often, but she's kind of just... there when they fuck shit up.

So the Stick Rod and the arch gate thing are both tied to the Big Dipper/Ursa Major... I'm not quite sure why. It's not really a significant constellation you'd expect to be tied to any magical power, like, say... the Pleiades, maybe? cause, you know, gainax did a pleiades anime, an we wuz gainax n shieeeeetttttt It's occurred to me that the teacher's name was probably Ursula even back in the original (and I can't really be bothered to check) and so the "seven stars" was probably always the big dipper... but, like, I'm sticking to my guns here. It really feels like Trigger wanted to drag Houkago no Pleiades into their little incestuous cycle of small reference circles and endless self-backpatting, but they either were stopped because unlike Gurren Lagann (which was done right before they split off and I think had a lot of the same staff members) they really had fucking nothing to do with it (the shorts would have been made before the split but I don't know how much staff overlap there actually was), or they thought better of it... but not better enough to stop them from doing an erzats version instead of actually coming up with something original. So they swapped out the Pleiades for a different seven-star constellation (because they were really attached to the number, I guess?...), except they couldn't find one with anywhere near the level of lore and actual meaningful-ness (because that's just so hard) so they just... this. Come to think of it, I said before that Sushi is like a shit version of Nanako, and Pleiades has sort of a witch-like motif with the car broomsticks... hmmmmmmmmm.

If they wanted to stick with the Big Dipper, they could have done something cute like use a bunch of constellations that're well known to children and make it kind of cutesy and nostalgic. So say the stick has the little dipper on it because it's the "child" of the arch thing which has the big dipper, the school has some other constellation or stellar object as its main motif (instead of a... triskelion? why the fuck is it that? I can get the crescent moon they use for some of it but why is the triskelion also a thing?)

...... Anyway episode 5: i like how this readaptation of the ova plot just has some lizards randomly fucking came up and took the fucking stone... guess we don't really need any protection on the most important thing to the school or anything....... oh and then the teachers fuckijg punish akko and redhair for ALERTING THEM TO THE FUCKING THEFT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO THE FUCKING ACADEMY BECAUSE THEY BRIEFLY STOPPED CLEANING TO DO IT... why is everyone in this universe just full-on turbo-cunt? also there's no backup systems at all? fucking nice

... the moon has the fucking trigger star on it? just like flatly pasted on. it's not like the moon is a sphere or anything. also why is it there? evangelion pandering? ... Come to think of it, for all the wanking Trigger does over its own works and anything from Gainax they can vaguely call their's, they've never really touched Eva even though it's a fucking cultural juggernaut. Well, there's a girl in Franxx who looks like an Asuka clone, but she doesn't seem to have the same personality at all (the first episode will probably be out by the time I post this but rest assured I won't be watching it any time soon..... gotta let that succ juice marinate)

episode 6: every second of akko's live is succ because she sucks at everything and fuck her, we get it already. something about this is just cringy and depressing to watch... this is the first time these girls have ever seen a male of the human species before

ep 7: akko is too braindead from trying to open a window all night and not sleeping to exams and if she fails she gets kicked out of the school and she's too shit fucking do anything right, we get it already urrrrrrrrhghg lol how'd she get a b minus for literally not flying at all. I... guess it's nice to see her getting a fucking break for trying for once, but still, what? and then akko fucking kills a professor and drops them down the sink. lol rip